Ireland Stage Second Round Comeback to Finish Third in Aachen Nations Cup

The Irish team of Denis Lynch, Dermott Lennon, Billy Twomey and Cian O'Connor staged a fighting comeback at the Nations' Cup in Aachen, Germany tonight (Thursday) to finish third of the world's best eight teams.

Lying equal fourth at the halfway stage with no zero scores on the board and a total of 12 faults, the Irish team returned after the break to produce two dazzling clear rounds from Billy Twomey and then Cian O'Connor, seeing off the opposition and climbing to third overall.

Jumping on one of the longest and most taxing of all the Nations' Cup courses, the Irish quartet started out with four faults apiece from Denis Lynch with Lantinus, Dermott Lennon on Loughview Lou Lou and Cian O'Connor on Blue Loyd, with Billy Twomey producing an uncharacteristic 12 fault discard score with Je t'Aime Flamenco.

Lynch had eight faults on his second round, and with Lennon having four fences down on his second attempt, Ireland's hopes looked poor. But third man in Twomey pulled out all the stops to leave every fence standing, while O'Connor and Blue Loyd then produced a copybook final round to cross the line on a zero score, thus ensuring that Ireland's total penalties climbed no higher than 20, nailing down third place overall.

France won the Cup on ten faults, while Germany settled for a runner-up spot on their home turf with 12 faults on the card.

Speaking afterwards, Ireland's Team manager Robert Splaine said: "This was a tremendous mental performance, with the team fighting right to the last and refusing to give in. In particular, it was great to see Billy Twomey come back with a clear round, while Cian O'Connor improved in the second round, something that he's done in every Nations' Cup in which he's jumped."

"We are steadily improving in this series, but we must stay strong now for the last three legs to move ourselves up the leaderboard."

IRISH SCORES:
Denis Lynch/Lantinus 4/8
Dermott Lennon/Loughview Lou Lou (ISH) 4/16 Billy Twomey /Je t'Aime Flamenco 12/0 Cian O'Connor/Blue Loyd 4/0

Irish breeding also received a boost at Aachen tonight with the Irish Sport Horse mare Castlefield Eclipse recording its third consecutive double clear round in the 2012 series, having already produced zero scores at Rome and Rotterdam. The mare, ridden by Switzerland's Paul Estermann, is by the Horse Sport Ireland five-star stallion Obos Quality.

The FEI Nations' Cup Superleague comprises eight legs. Aachen will be followed by Falsterbo, Sweden on July 13, Hickstead, Gt. Britain on July 20, with the final competition in the 2012 series taking place at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show on Friday August 17.